A Fanspeak Dictionary

* A *

Actorfic - This is fan fiction where the fan fiction is not centered around characters but the actual actors who play that character. Thus a story wouldn't be about Clark Kent or Lois Lane but about Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth.

Adultfic - Fan fiction that depicts sexual or overly violent material. It would be rated PG-13 to NC-17 if it were a movie.

Alternate Universe [AU] - This is where an author will choose to stray from the canon of the show and create events which are on their own timeline. Usually this is when an author will deny a character's death or act like an episode never happened or say "what if" episode A had happened differently, or they will act like the show stopped a certain place and keep writing as if there are no new episodes after that. If someone writes a fan fiction where Clark never meets Lois, this is considered alternate universe. Fan fictions that take place after the end of a show are not alternate universe, however, because there is no canon for them to contradict.

Avatar - Closely related to a Mary Sue, but this is a character which is the actual author inserted into the fandom. For instance, if I write for the character Joy at the Bakery, who *is* me, but leaves to explore Metropolis, this is an avatar. It is basically a vehicle for the author to really, truly play in the fandom.

* B *

Beta Reader - A beta reader is like an editor of fan fiction. This is anyone who is sent a story for the purpose of reading and reviewing a story before it is released to a list or archive so that the author can make improvements to the story before everyone else sees it. These are some of the most helpful and best tools in fan fiction writing. I encourage everyone to seek out a beta reader for every fic they write.

* C *

Canon - All of the events which expressly happen in the fandom. Meaning everything, every person, event, statement, that happens in the show, movie, or book is canon. For example, Smallville being in Kansas is canon because it expressly says in Superman the Movie that it is. Everything that happens in the show or movie is canon. This is sort of used like a law for fan fiction. Alternate universes are where an author deliberately ignores, goes against, or stops paying attention to canon in order to create their own canon.

Challenge - A challenge to write a fan fiction with a certain, theme, line or idea. If someone says, "See if you can write a story starting with the line 'Call me Ishmael'", this is a challenge. Any fiction which answers this is a challenge fic.

Challenge Fic - Any fan fiction which answers a challenge

Character Death - A heading or warning put on stories warning the reader that in the story one of the canon characters dies. If a story about Lois Lane being killed was written, this story would carry a Character Death warning.

Con - Not particularly fan fic related, but common in fan speak. It means a convention of fans.

Consensual - A heading in adult fan fiction that says that all the parties that have sex in the fan fiction are consenting and want to have sex. This is as opposed to semi-consensual where consent is forced or a character is nudged but not outright forced into sex or otherwise having sex but not for reasons of their own (a character sleeping with someone to save someone's life for instance) and non-consensual which says that one of the characters is raped.

Continuation - A fan fiction which carries on after the end of a movie or series. Any fiction which takes place after Superman Returns, such as a fiction about Jason growing up and going to college and getting a job, is a continuation. This doesn't break canon, but merely extends it in the author's imagination. It isn't an alternate universe because a continuation has no canon to break, since all the canon ended with the end of the movie/book/story.

Crossover - A fan fiction which incorporates characters, events, places, ideas, etc from another fandom. If Lois Lane and Buffy were to run into each other, this would be a crossover, since they are two separate fandoms merged into one. Crossovers are also denoted sometimes with the word: "xover", the X standing for cross.

* D *

Deathfic - A fan fiction which centers around the death of a character. This usually is a fiction about how the other characters cope with the loss.

Disclaimer - A header that MUST be put before all fan fiction which acknowledges that the fan fiction author acknowledges the copyrights to the material which they are writing for. This is both a courtesy and necessity among fans who write fan fiction. All fan fictions on this archive must include disclaimers.

Drabble - A fan fiction that is self contained and is no more than 100 hundred words. A half drabble is a fan fiction of 50 words and a double drabble is a fan fiction of 200 words. OR A drabble can sometimes mean a very short fic that is not exactly 100 words but extremely short, for instance, it is not incorrect to call a 500 word fan fiction a drabble.

* E *

Ep - Short for an episode of a show.

Erotica - Tasteful fan fiction which involves characters in sexual situations. The difference between erotic and outright pornography is mainly in the intent of both writer and reader. The line between erotica and pornography is a fine one and easily blurred. However, all adult rated fictions here at the Big Apricot are considered, at least by the Head Librarian, to be erotica and not pornography.

* F *

Faction - Parts of a fandom which are split up among different issues in a fandom. For instance, those that support a character and those that don't are considered factions.

Fandom - The activities, canon, characters, fan fiction, and fans of a particular show, movie, book, or other thing. Everything that happens involving the Superman Movie fans is the Superman Movie fandom. This is also used as a synonym for "universe", meaning the world in which a show, movie, or book takes place.

Fanon - Things that are not strictly canon, but do not contradict it and are widely accepted by most fans. For instance if most fans just accept that Clark's middle name is Joseph (as it is in the comics), even though it is not expressly canon, it becomes fanon.

Flag-waving - The practice of dividing into faction and supporting or "waving a flag" for your faction. For instance, there are those who "wave a flag" for Brandon Routh's depiction of Superman and loudly support him. This can be a fun practice, but has turned ugly in the past. Flag waving is asked not to be done on at the Big Apricot.

Feedback [FDK or FB] - Replies that an author gets from readers commenting on the story. This is probably the second most important part of any FANDOM, and feedback is STRONGLY encouraged. Feedback is what motivates writers to keep writing when they get no payment or compensation for the time and effort they put into their stories. Basically, feedback is the lifeblood of fan fiction.

Femslash - A story depicting sexual situations between females. See also - slash.

F - A notation on adult fiction which denotes that sexual situations involving only one female are going to take place in a story (ie - masturbation).

F/F or f/f - A notation telling readers that a story contains a sexual situation between two females. If Lois and Diana Prince were to have sex in a story, the F/F sign would be used to tell readers that sexual situations between two females was going to occur in the story. Also known as femslash.

F/F/F, etc... - A notation telling the reader that there are going to sexual situations between more than two females. If Lois, Diana, and Selina Kyle had sex together, this would be denoted with an F/F/F symbol. There may be more than three females having sex in the fan fiction, but they are usually not denoted in the F/F/F symbol.

f/m - A notation telling the reader that sex between a female and a male is going to take place.

Filk - A fan fiction that is a parody of a song. For instance, if a writer writes "Superman Pie" which is a parody of "American Pie", this filk.

Flame - A negative, hurtful comment meant only to anger or upset a person. This is considered rude and will cause a person to be banned from the Big Apricot and most other mailing lists and message boards. Also, to send a flame is to flame. It can be a noun or a verb.

Fluff - A light fiction which is usually just a day-in-the-life piece that is cute and humorous. A fiction about Lois taking a humorous shopping trip would be considered fluff.

* G *

Genfic - Fan fiction which does not contain sexual situations. It is fan fiction that would be rated G to PG. It contains no sexual or overly graphic violence and relatively little cursing.

Genre - The type of fan fiction that it is. This can mean a lot of things. The fandom itself can be considered a genre.

* H *

Hurt/Comfort [h/c] - A fan fiction in which a character is put through a traumatizing experience in order to be comforted. For instance, having Clark stabbed or shot with kryptonite then get lots of hugs is a h/c fan fiction.

* L *

Lemon - Any fan fiction containing graphic sexual situations that are described. Much like adultfic and PWP's, only a lemon might be a full length story that contains merely scenes of graphic sex.

Listee - Any person on a mailing list.

Listmommy/Listowner - The owner or moderator of a list, the person who makes sure that everything is running correctly and nobody is flaming or violating the rules.

* M *

Mary-Sue - Any original female character which is too perfect, too extreme, or otherwise badly done. There is no real hard and fast standard for what constitutes a Mary Sue and much depends on the eye of the beholder.

Marty-Sam/Marty-Stu - Any original male character which is too perfect, too extreme or otherwise badly done. The male counterpart to a Mary Sue.

m/m - A heading denoting sex between two or more males. Another m indicates that there is a threesome. Note, however, that there may be more than three male characters having sex even if only the m/m/m heading is used. Three can also be used in a general sense to denote multiple sex partners.

* N *

Newbie - Any fan that is new to a fandom or list.

Nfic - Naughty fiction - Another term for fan fiction that depicts sexual material. Much like adultfic, PWP and Lemon

* O *

OC - An acronym meaning Original Character. An original character is any character that is not in the original series/movie/book and is created by the author.

OOC - Out of Character. (1) When a canon character acts in such a way as to be totally contrary to what they would in the series or film. If Jimmy was to get violent and start fights, this would OOC. (2) A term used during RPG's when a person wants to say something as themselves, outside of the game. (e.g. - OOC: I have to leave my computer in twenty minutes.)

OT - Off Topic. This is used in the subject of emails sent to mailing lists or forum messages when someone is talking about things that are not directly pertaining to the purpose of the email list or forum. For example OT: Happy Birthday, Mary Sue!

* P *

Pairing - The selection of characters that are in a relationship together. This is denoted by using the abbreviations of their names together or just their name. R/L would be Richard/Lois put together or Richlois. That is a pairing.

Plotbunny - An affectionate term for an idea that sticks in your head and you just HAVE to write it even if it goes nowhere or keeps going off into other ideas.

Pre-slash - A story which is not strictly adult or strictly about a homosexual relationship but which introduces the possibilities, situations, and circumstances for one to occur. A story about Bruce and Clark getting closer on a mission, not starting a relationship per se, but getting there, that's pre-slash.

Pre-series - A story which is about events occurring before a series or movie began. A story about how Perry met his wife is pre-series or pre-movie.

PWP - Porn Without Plot or Plot, What Plot? This is a piece of fan fiction that contains no other action than an overt sexual act between the characters. A piece that is about nothing besides Lois and Clark having sex is considered a PWP.

* R *

RL - Real Life. That annoying time between fan fictions. ;)

Round Robin - A fan fiction written by several authors taking turns each writing a part.

RPG - Role Playing Game. A game that involves people pretending to be their favorite characters. If you played a game where you were pretending to be Lois, you'd be playing a Role Playing Game.

* S *

'shipper (relationshipper) - Short for Relationshipper. This is someone who supports a particular pairing. For instance, fans who support a relationship between Richard and Lois are Richard and Lois 'shippers.

Sillyfic - A light piece of fan fiction which is ridiculous and meant to amuse. A fic that is about Jason and Clark getting into some comical mishap is a sillyfic. Unlike fluff, Sillyfics often break canon rules or get OOC, but it is okay in the case of sillyfic, because the author intends to do this just to get a good laugh.

Slash - A story depicting same gender relationships and sexual situations. These may or may not include graphic sexual situations.

Songfic - A fan fiction which is based on a song or includes a song. These fics can range from silly to very serious and heartbreaking. Many times a song fic will not include the song, but will have the lyrics at the end for the reader to infer how those lyrics reflect the character and situations.

Spoiler - Anything in a fanfiction or email which gives away parts of episodes or movies. For instance, if a fan fiction gives away the ending of a recent Smallville, a spoiler warning would be issued so that anyone who hadn't seen Smallville, and who wanted to, could know to avoid that fic. This is used more commonly in fandoms that still have new episodes airing, such as CSI. Spoiler warnings really aren't required in the Movieverse fandom, but for such fandoms as Smallville and CSI, spoiler warnings are appreciated.

Squick - Anything that upsets, disturbs, or grosses a person out is a squick. If something squicks you, it upsets and disgusts you. Some people are squicked by adultfic or other things.

* V *

Vignette - A piece of fan fiction which is centered on a characters feelings, emotions, experiences, reflections, and thoughts. Usually very short. A fiction that is just about Kal-El thinking of Earth while he is in the crystal starship is a vignette.

Vanilla - Referring to a type of sex which is ordinary male/female without any variations or kinks.

* U *

UST - Unresolved Sexual Tension. This is a term referring to interactions between characters that aren't expressly sexual but have sexual undertones. If two characters are dancing and begin to get very close but then are interrupted, there is UST there. This is a term first coined by X-Files fans to describe the chemistry between Mulder and Scully.

* W *

Wham - A fan fiction which contains a character death or other traumatic event. See Deathfic.

* X *

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